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Cell therapy to be the future of diabetes management

Patients report excellent control of blood sugar level after being treated with stem cells derived from their bone marrow.

For Mrs Kanika (name changed) it has been a virtual miracle achieved with her own stem cells. The 74-year-old woman had been battling type2diabetes for many years. Her blood sugar levels were quite high despite medication. But thanks to stem cell therapy, a new breakthrough in diabetic management, her blood glucose is today well under control and she enjoys a much better quality of life.

The procedure was done, in May this year, at the GM Nursing Home in Chandigarh, under the able guidance of CEO of StemGenn Therapeutics, Dr Prabhu Mishra, an ace stem cell scientist and his team of clinicians, Dr Shaloo Gupta and Dr Pawan Gupta. StemGenn Therapeutics and GM Nursing Home are in a joint venture for stem cell therapy.

“It is an extremely effective, safe and reasonably-priced procedure which could extend the frontiers of diabetic management and possibly even provide a cure someday with more trial studies,” says Dr Prabhu Mishra, Co-founder Therapeutics, a company that specialises in the retrieval of best quality stem cells.

“Awareness about it is spreading slowly through word of mouth. People need to be made more aware of the immense potential of this treatment for diabetic management,” asserts Dr Mishra.

Stem cells have a unique ability to replicate into new cell types. Type 2 diabetes is a situation where the insulin produced by the body, is not able to digest or metabolize the blood glucose. In stem cell treatment, autologous stem cells procured from various sources from the patient’s body including bone marrow, fat adipose tissue, etc. are reintroduced into the patient’s body. These cells multiply speedily, repairing and replacing the damaged cells. They stimulate the formation of new islets of Langerhans in the pancreas that boost the production of insulin and bring down the blood sugar level. This acts as a marvel in both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. There is a significant reduction in the insulin dosage with remarkable improvement in the general health of the diabetic patient.

Elaborating on Mrs Kanika’s case, Dr Mishra, says, “We extracted stem cells from the patient’s bone marrow and started the treatment. Subsequently, we have done other cases with equally promising outcomes. An 83- year-old gentleman with type 2 diabetes was administered the therapy bringing down his HbA1c level from high 6.6 to a normal 5.8, while Mrs Kanika came down from 6.8 to 6. Both the patients were advised to maintain their regular routine involving exercise, medication course, and diet immediately before and for 90 days after the treatment. Both of them received the treatment once and their glucose levels were monitored daily at home and once a month at a NABL accredited laboratory.In both the patients, the fasting, postprandial (i.e. after meals) and HbA1c (i.e. average for 3 months) sugar levels decreased significantly after cell therapy treatment.”

Giving details of the procedure Dr Mishra says: “After checking the patient’s, blood sugar fasting, blood sugar (PP) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (H.P.L.C) about 60 mL of bone marrow is aspirated from the patient's posterior iliac crest under general anesthesia. This bone marrow aspirate is then processed using an advanced and fully automated bone marrow processing system, namely, The Arthrex Angel SystemTM to harvest the bone marrow concentrate. In the end, the bone marrow concentrate is administered intravenously to the patient. The patient is kept under observation for 4-5 hours and then discharged after that”.

Vouching for the efficacy of cell therapy, Dr Mishra says that stem cells therapy could be the panacea, for not just diabetes, but for all kinds of metabolic diseases in the coming years.